New York / TEH: A majority of UN Security Council members expressed support for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ call for a ceasefire in Ukraine during the Christian Easter period.
This came in the council’s session, which lasted approximately 3 hours and extended until dawn on Wednesday.
In a press conference held at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Antonio Guterres, on Wednesday morning, called for a humanitarian truce in Ukraine, for a period of 4 days, from tomorrow, Thursday, until Sunday, coinciding with the Christian Easter.
“Easter unites Orthodox Christians in Russia and Ukraine – as well as Ukrainian Catholics… It is a holiday of resurrection, resurrection, hope and reflection on the meaning of suffering, sacrifice, death and rebirth,” the Secretary-General said.
Ireland’s Foreign Minister Simon Coveney appealed to Russia to “accept an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, commit to negotiations and respect the Charter of the United Nations.”
“As it was on February 25, today it is also a war of choice. It can be ended immediately if President (Vladimir) Putin decides to do so,” he said in his speech to council members.
The Irish minister warned of the repercussions of the war on “the weak around the world”, especially on the countries of the Middle East, the Horn of Africa and Latin America.
In turn, Washington’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Linda Thomas Greenfield, said that “the Secretary-General of the United Nations called for a humanitarian pause to allow the opening of humanitarian corridors.”
She added, “That’s why I ask you: is the United Nations – even the Security Council – not concerned with this crisis? We know that the world is looking to the United Nations and wondering how to respond in the wake of Russia’s unreasonable actions.”
She continued, “It is very important for the United Nations to play a major role… and it is important to show the world that when Russia caused the worst refugee crisis in Europe since World War II, the rest of the Security Council and the United Nations provided assistance to those who need it most.” .
The US ambassador also called for addressing the threat of human trafficking, warning that “the majority of displaced and refugee Ukrainian women and children face grave risks – of being trafficked, exploited, and subjected to gender-based violence. We must do everything we can to mitigate those risks.”
During the session, the delegates of France, Nicolas de Riviere, and Mexico, Juan Ramon de Lavonte, called on Russia to comply with the Secretary-General’s call.
“The protection of civilians is an absolute necessity,” the French ambassador said in his speech during the session. “The urgent access of humanitarian aid must be ensured.”
On the other hand, the Russian Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Dmitry Polansky, said that his country faced the consequences of the deteriorating situation in Ukraine immediately after the anti-constitutional coup that took place there in February 2014, as he put it.
And he explained in his speech during the session that “Western countries forget what they did in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yugoslavia and Libya.”
He said, “The delegates of the Western countries that are members of this council are trying to portray what happened on February 24 as unjustified and unprecedented Russian aggression or a war of choice.”
And he added: “They (the West) hypocritically pretend that nothing more terrible has happened in the world since the Second World War, turn a blind eye to the hundreds of thousands of victims since the end of the Cold War, forget their military adventures in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yugoslavia and Libya, and portray Ukraine as a kind of pure and innocent white sheep. “.
He stressed that “such a picture does not fit the eight-year war against the civilian population in eastern Ukraine, the many years of sabotage of the “Minsk agreements”, as he put it.
“Moscow will carefully separate such tactical calls for a “false peace” from a sincere desire to help Ukraine make the long-awaited only correct decisions,” the Russian ambassador emphasized.
On February 24, Russia launched an attack on Ukraine , followed by international rejection and severe economic sanctions against Moscow, which stipulate to end its operation that Kyiv abandon plans to join military entities and remain neutral, which the latter considers an “interference in its sovereignty.”
